Oil & Gas U.K. said it is pleased that a plenary vote in the European Parliament may see the introduction of a directive on offshore safety and environment.
Robert Paterson, Oil & Gas U.K.’s health, safety and employment director, said: “Oil & Gas U.K. has worked hard to campaign for this directive in place of the European Commission’s original proposition of a Regulation and the very real danger to our workers’ safety that this would have brought.
[Directives are addressed to member states rather than their citizens, and are therefore only legally binding upon the states themselves. Under the process known as "transposition" the directive sets the framework but the practical details of implementation are left for the member states to decide. By contrast, regulations have "general application". That means they are binding on individuals and effectively form part of domestic law as soon as they are made.]
“In this, the 25th anniversary year of Piper Alpha – which was the world’s worst offshore disaster – we are heartened that the world-class goal-setting regulatory safety regime put in place after the disaster will be protected. “In addition, we believe the Directive will be the best way to achieve the objective of raising standards across the EU to the high levels already present in the North Sea.
“DECC and HSE will shortly begin transposition of the Directive into U.K. law. We look forward to working with them to achieve these changes in as seamless a way as possible.”